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Czech Republic

From Bahaipedia
 Czech Republic
The Townshend International School in Czechia.
Location of the Czech Republic
National AssemblyCzech Republic
Statistics:
Total Population
 -  UN 2021[1] 10,510,751
Bahá'í pop.
 -  Bahá'í source  
 -  Non-Bahá'í source 982
History:
Firsts
 -  Bahá'í to visit 1926, Martha Root 
 -  Local Bahá'í Vuk Echtner 
 -  Local Assembly 1990, Prague 
 -  National Assembly 1998 
Official Website http://www.bahai.cz/
Related media
Categories: Czech Republic • People

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a country in Central Europe. Czech is the official language and irreligion is the predominant belief system.

The region, known historically as Bohemia, was part of the Holy Roman Empire from the Middle Ages and was part of the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian Empires after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1918 it became part of Czechoslovakia when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved and Czechia and Slovakia became independent countries in 1993.

The Bahá’í Faith was introduced to Czechia in the 1920s however a community was not established until the 1990s. The Bahá’í community of Czechia remains active to the present day and the country is notably home to the Townshend International School, a Bahá’í inspired educational institution.

History[edit]

Martha Root visited Prague for eight days in 1926 and she gave several talks and one local, Vuk Echtner, was inspired to translate some of the Bahá’í Writings into Czech and became the first Czech Bahá’í.[2] She returned to the city in March, 1928, and met with the President of the country,[3] and she moved to the city in 1932 with it serving as her home residence for eighteen months while she travel taught across Europe.[4]

While the Faith had been proclaimed a community was not firmly established in the 1930's and the government became repressive of religious activity in the 1950's with Vuk Echtner being imprisoned for his beliefs in 1956.[5] When the National Spiritual Assembly of Austria was established in 1959 it was assigned responsibility for overseeing efforts to expand the Faith in Czechoslovakia.[6] As of 1963 there were two small Bahá’í communities in localities in Czechoslovakia with neither being large enough to form a Local Spiritual Assembly.[7]

In 1990 the European Bahá’í Youth Council organized teaching projects in Czechoslovakia,[8] and in June that year the Local Spiritual Assembly of Prague was established.[9] The first national Bahá’í teaching conference of Czechoslovakia was held in 1991,[10] the National Spiritual Assembly of Czechoslovakia was established the same year, and there were five Local Spiritual Assemblies across the country by 1992.[11] The National Assembly was renamed the National Spiritual Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1993 to reflect the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.[12]

In 1994 the fifth annual conference of European National Bahá’í Youth Committees was held in Brno,[13] and in 1995 a Bahá’í women's seminar was held in Czechia to encourage women to become more active in the community.[14] In 1996 the Townshend International School, a Bahá’í inspired school established in Czechia in 1992,[15] held its first graduation ceremony for students who received praise from a state official for their results.[16]

In 1998 Czechia and Slovakia both established independent National Spiritual Assemblies,[17] and the first summer school of the Czech Republic was held in Trojanovice in August the same year.[18] The National Assembly was invited to participate in a 1999 conference on the role of the religious believer in contemporary society called by the President of the country.[19]

In December 2002 a European Bahá’í Youth Seminar was held at Townshend International School at which several Bahá’í topics were studied as was the Century of Light document prepared on behalf of the Universal House of Justice.[20] In 2004 European Bahá’í youth organized the Changing Times European Youth Forum which was also held at Townshend International School.[21]

In 2022 grassroots conferences were held across the Czech Republic as part of the Global Conferences initiative of the international Bahá’í community.[22]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 251
  3. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 298
  4. ↑ M. R. Garis, Martha Root: Lioness at the Threshold, Baha'i Publishing Trust: Wilmette, 1983, p 384
  5. ↑ Paul Vreeland (Ed.), The Baha'i World, In Memoriam 1992-1997, Baha'i World Centre, 2010, p 115
  6. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 198. View as PDF.
  7. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1974). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 14 (1963-1968), Pg(s) 163. View as PDF.
  8. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 203. View as PDF.
  9. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 217. View as PDF.
  10. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 205. View as PDF.
  11. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 20 (1986-1992), Pg(s) 217. View as PDF.
  12. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 34. View as PDF.
  13. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1994). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 22 (1993-1994), Pg(s) 123. View as PDF.
  14. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1997). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 24 (1995-1996), Pg(s) 81. View as PDF.
  15. ↑ https://www.townshend.cz/about-us
  16. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1998). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 25 (1996-1997), Pg(s) 91. View as PDF.
  17. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (1999). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 26 (1997-1998), Pg(s) 34. View as PDF.
  18. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2000). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 27 (1998-1999), Pg(s) 77. View as PDF.
  19. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2001). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 28 (1999-2000), Pg(s) 90. View as PDF.
  20. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2004). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 31 (2002-2003), Pg(s) 74. View as PDF.
  21. ↑ The Bahá’í World, An International Record. (2006). Bahá’í World Centre. Haifa. Volume 33 (2004-2005), Pg(s) 104. View as PDF.
  22. ↑ https://news.bahai.org/story/1586/slideshow/18/
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